Cancer scare in Nuh: Nine villages under lens, DC orders health survey

In what has set off alarm bells for state health authorities, nine villages in Nuh district have reported a worrying surge in cancer cases and deaths. Following reports of over 20 deaths in just one village over the past two years, the Nuh administration has ordered a detailed health survey across the affected areas.

Every second home affected

Nobody had heard of cancer four years ago, and now we’re losing men as young as 27. Every second home in the village is affected. People are forced to seek treatment in Gurugram, Jaipur or Faridabad, which is financially crippling. We believe the adjoining drain is contaminating our groundwater. Asgar, sarpanch, Falendi village

“We have directed local health authorities to survey the nine villages and collect exact data on cancer cases and deaths. The complaints of villagers are being taken seriously and we are investigating all possible causes,” said Nuh Deputy Commissioner Akhil Pilani.

Among the worst-affected areas is Falendi village in the Punhana block, where residents have listed 25 people who reportedly died of cancer in the past two years. With a population of around 8,000, villagers claim that “every second household” is now battling the disease — something unheard of until recently.

“Nobody had heard of cancer four years ago, and now we’re losing men as young as 27,” said Asgar, sarpanch of Falendi. “Every second home in the village is affected. People are forced to seek treatment in Gurugram, Jaipur or Faridabad, which is financially crippling. We believe the adjoining drain is contaminating our groundwater.”

Falendi lies along the Ujina drain and Gurugram channel, both of which are now under scrutiny for possible contamination.

Other affected villages include Nizampur Nuh, Malb, Akera, Tapkan, Jharokhadi (Punhana), Bichhor, Rigad (Firozpur Jhirka) and Satakpuri, where residents have also blamed polluted water and soil for rising cancer and other health problems.

Idris, a local social activist who has been campaigning for medical intervention, said: “The Aravallis are being poisoned. Villages that never heard of cancer in a century are now hotbeds of the disease. We’ve been appealing to the government for months, but no one has cared to test the water or hold medical camps. In many homes, all breadwinners have died — others die untreated due to poverty.”

Environmentalists have also expressed concern over the deteriorating ecosystem in the Aravallis. “The Aravalli has become a dump yard,” said Vashali Rana Chandra, trustee of Aravalli Bachao Trust. “Industrial waste is being dumped into water bodies or burnt in forests. Both residents and wildlife are suffering. Besides cancer, pulmonary and eye-related diseases are rising sharply in foothill villages.”

Local MLA Aftab Ahmed has slammed the government for neglecting Nuh’s fragile healthcare system. “It’s been over a decade of a ‘double-engine’ government, yet Nuh lacks even basic health facilities,” Ahmed said. “Cancer cases are rising, but the state is least concerned. Before dreaming of building a Safari Park, the government should save the Aravallis from contamination.”

Haryana Tribune